Martin O’Malley outlines ‘16 candidacy

MILWAUKEE — Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley spoke more candidly than ever Saturday about the likelihood he will run for president in 2016 as he lamented “a crisis of confidence” facing the country.

“By the end of this year, we’re on course to have a body of work that lays the framework of the candidacy for 2016,” he told a handful of reporters over a beer in the Hilton bar here.

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The term-limited governor, at his final National Governors Association meeting, noted that he has delivered a series of high-profile talks recently to flesh out the big issues he would build a run for the Democratic nomination around: a commencement at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, an address on climate change, a Center for American Progress speech about growing the middle class and a speech in Ireland.

O’Malley is cutting checks to “like-minded candidates” in Iowa and New Hampshire through his political action committee, which has also begun to ramp up its investment in online and social media.

“I have been taking more time to let my soul catch up with where my body’s been, to slow down a little bit and spend more time thinking and writing and reading and spending some time with my kids,” he said toward the end of a 35-minute conversation. “Just doing that important work that a human being has to do to be centered and present and make a rational decision on something this big and to do it for the right reason and in the right way. So I’m doing all of those things.”

O’Malley, who said the Democratic Party has not “done a good enough job selling our accomplishments,” connected his 2016 deliberations to a broader concern about the direction of the country.

“You still see a lot of angst and anxiety for the vast majority of people who are working hard every day and seeing their buying power go flat and even decline,” he said. “We’re going through this crisis of confidence, and great republics sometimes go through these periods. Individuals call them the dark night of the soul.

“We’re going through a period of time of confusion and a time of polarization and a real crisis of whether or not we’re still capable as a people of accomplishing big and important things, none more important than restoring the balance to our economy so that our middle class can continue to grow and give more opportunities to each successive generation.

“We will get through that period, of that I have no doubt, but I don’t think we’ll get through that period by 2014. So you’re going to have this debate rage in all the states and among 36 governors as to whose theory works.”

“It’s probably going to continue … for a couple more cycles,” he added.

The governor praised three books he’s recently read as part of the presidential deliberation: Richard Haass’ “Foreign Policy Begins At Home: The Case for Putting America’s House in Order”; Eric Liu’s “The Gardens of Democracy”; and Parker Palmer’s “Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit.”

“Part of it is crystalizing,” he said of his reading list. “Sometimes you read things that are very insightful and square with what your own experiences taught you and what your own gut and mind tells you.”